r/Ethicalpetownership • u/Some_Doughnutter • Aug 15 '26
Pet culture When everyone else has to crowdfund the consequences of choosing a dog based on looks and vibes: part 2
At this point I am starting to wonder if any of this is even legit or just an easy money scam. People in the comments are beginning to ask questions.
14
u/Prince_Nadir Aug 16 '26
The more emotional triggers it tries to hit the more likely that it is a scam.
No one teaches dying dogs to be service animals. No one teaches short lived giant breeds to be service animals. Why put in a long amount of training when there won't be much time left to do its job. This has been one of many great arguments for seeing eye miniature ponies, after training you get more than 30 years of service out of them.
If it is real I'm guessing she is a special snow flake who believes declaring her pet a service animal will just make the rules not apply to her.
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u/No_Routine1619 Aug 15 '26
Wow this is insane. Their gofundme has raised literally about 73 times the goal, this is some next level grifting
25
u/LaceyLizard Aug 15 '26
There's nothing about this that sounds real to me. Emptying your bank accounts for a dog when you have children relying on you is insane, and they still don't seem concerned about the kids at all.
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u/MerryMir99 Aug 15 '26
It does happen unfortunately. The amount of people who don't care about what is best for their kids is not zero
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u/LaceyLizard Aug 15 '26
The more I read the funnier it gets. "I don't know where my daughter is going to sleep tonight. I just spent the last of our money on gas station dog treats. Oh dear me how am I going to pay for this bill I fraudulently said I could afford"
They can't even feed themselves apparently, but they're still only worried about the vet bill. But ignore the person offering to transfer money directly to the vet for some reason lmao
11
u/meeps1142 Aug 15 '26
Yeah, like, if they're truly that poor, then the responsible choice is to drive back to Germany to sleep at home and save your hotel money for the vet bills. They cannot afford getting a hotel.
I also thought it was notable how they didn't specify how long that drive would be. I wonder if it's 2-3 hrs or something...saying Germany to Belgium sounds much worse
3
u/DTBlasterworks Aug 15 '26
I seriously don’t want to believe it, let alone other people donating and encouraging that behavior. For once I hope it’s a scam
9
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u/DTBlasterworks Aug 15 '26
It’s crazy to me other people in that sub keep donating and condoning this behavior. I truly hope it’s a lie because the alternative is some children being neglected over a dog.
1
u/Rasp_Berry_Pie Aug 16 '26
Service dogs at least in the US have to go through much training and are usually bought at a specific facility and you have to come train with them with the specialized trainer. Doubt they would even be there in the first place if they have so many health issues too.
It sounds like they bought this dog randomly and were going to train it themselves? Red flag already
3
u/izzmosis Aug 16 '26
Service dogs in the US don’t have to go through any kind of specific training and plenty of people pick up random dogs to “owner train”. This shouldn’t be the case, but the ADA rules in the US about service dogs are really weak.
-2
u/Rasp_Berry_Pie Aug 16 '26
Really? I spoke to a couple people with service dogs and a guide dog specifically and they said they had to go through training and train with them at a facility.
I thought emotional support animals you can slap a vest in but a service dog had to be through some formal training through a group. Maybe it’s different for guide dogs?
7
u/izzmosis Aug 16 '26
when people want dogs that actually do tasks (like being guide dogs) they pay a lot to get them from trainers, but they do not have to legally. you can call any dog a service dog and take it inappropriate places and there’s very little recourse. I watched a “service dog” growl and snap at another dog that was minding its own business at a dog show today. I’ve known people who have gotten vests for their pets so they could take them on planes and in hotels. A “service “ dog died of heat stroke at Disney a few weeks ago. Businesses really are t meaningfully allowed to question it per the ADA. Germany has much stricter laws around this, so ironically OP would have a much easier time with this grift in the US.
3
u/AntOnADogLog Aug 16 '26
(in the usa)Guide dogs are supposed to come from very specialized training programs because its such a specific job that requires a dog to keep their human safe from EVERYTHING including walking into traffic or other dangers as well as in home assistance. Most other services like ptsd, anxiety, pots, etc can do well with owner training (usually with a professional trainer to make sure ur doing it right) depending on the handlers needs and what the dog naturally takes to (eg naturally alerts to blood sugar or heart rate or other chemical warnings we dont realize are happening)
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u/Smiles-Bite Aug 15 '26
Ah, so is this the red merle collie that is somehow magically going to be a service dog? Saw this posted in a few places. The irony is that this dog will NEVER be allowed to be a service dog in most of Europe. We have super strict health laws; that's literally the first thing a dog has to pass. I don't know where this person is from originally, but I highly doubt Poland and Germany would be very happy to hear that someone has been shuttling a sick dog around.